Making provision for reserve funds in the annual budget of a body corporate has always been a bit of a guessing game for trustees. Some trustees preferred to keep the levies as low as possible and to rather raise a special levy when the need arises as opposed to maintaining higher levies that secured a sufficient reserve fund over time...

The sectional title industry has changed dramatically since 6 October 2016 – the day the new Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act took effect. The responsibilities placed on trustees and specifically on managing agents have increased overnight. Managing agents aiming to stay relevant in the sectional title industry had to quickly familiarise themselves with new legislation and operational procedures. A recent seminar presented...

When a body corporate is established, the first point of business is to have an inaugural meeting where certain relevant issues are tabled and agreed on by the developer and the members of the scheme. This meeting must take place within 60 days of the registered establishment date of the scheme. At the inaugural meeting, the financial year end of the...

Occasionally, a body corporate need to consider and evaluate complicated requests from owners based on sectional title rules. A fairly complex case was recently presented to us by an owner for our comment and advice. It involved the following: A parking deck with a number of parking bays registered as sections; which is located on the top deck of a...

One of the many benefits of living in a community scheme is the security but sometimes, access to sections is needed for legitimate reasons and cannot be reasonably refused. Maintenance and inspection The structure of a multi-level complex is of such a nature that it involves various ducts with pipes, cables and other components essential in supplying services to the individual apartments...